“Myth of Masculinity” is a title of a class that peaks a modern day feminist, or anyone who thinks liberally. From the books and movies that were discussed and shown in class, some of them have changed, or complicated my view of the five words: love, deception, desire, gender, and crisis. The class has introduced many aspects of elements that contradict the original meanings. There is a push-pull, a back and forth, and a duality within these words. In the two films Cosi fan Tutte, and The Crying Game they have shown me that there is a double meaning, or a duality to these five words. In the musical film Cosi fan Tutte, or translated, Thus Do They All, or The School for Lovers, it shows that love is a crisis, and true love can be a deception. The translated title “Thus Do They All” and “The School for Lovers” is a title that summarizes the four characters, Fiordiligi, Dorabella, Guglielmo, and Ferrando. The two men, Guglielmo and Ferrando, decide to make a bet, urged by Don Alfonso, to see which of their fiancés will stay faithful to them. They lie about going to war, and put on disguises …show more content…
Dorabella, like Eve, falls for the deception easily, but Fiordiligi, like Adam, is a bit more resilient but gives in when, Dorabella the Eve says it is harmless to Fiordiligi. Both of the women could not help themselves; the desire overcame the “love”. Deception is continuous in this play. Even Despina the maid is in disguise to help the men for her own desire of money. Don Alfonso was the one that urged, that tempted the two young men’s minds of whose “love” was more pure and faithful. Alfonso was skeptical, and believed that all women are fickle. The bet turns for the worst and how the movie ends is in a crisis. Of course, for the females, although they were tempted, if their love for their fiancés were strong enough, they would not have surrendered to their
The concept of masculinity is considered as the qualities and characteristics of a man, typical what is appropriate to a man. In this article, A Community Psychology of Men and Masculinity: Historical and Conceptual Review, The author Eric S. Mankowski and Kenneth I. Maton, analyze four main themes: "Men as gendered beings, the privilege and damage of being a masculine man, men as a privileged group, and men’s power and subjective powerlessness. The second and fourth themes are described as
...ve for these characters was fated to be unattainable and deceiving. The attempt to seek out such represents a temptation that is pointless to pursue because the simple variable of change is unavoidable. This patriarchal society's denial to this truth is a cruel deception that, in both poems, victimizes women. The deception is maintained in the fairy-tale folklores of romantic poetry that Goblin Market and The Prince's Progress imitate, both literally and suggestively. Rossetti’s narratives illustrate a complex of immediate gratification, especially with the incorporation of romantic ideas, and they highlight that the fulfillment of these delights, however brief, leads to certain betrayal and disappointment. In this way, Rossetti oddly criticizes the romantic ideas in traditional literature while presenting a review of the beliefs fundamental to those ideas.
The sincerity of Claudio's love is thrown into question by the fact that his 'soft and delicate desires,/ All prompting him how fair young Hero is, are not confessed until he has ascertained that she will bring her husband a fortune.
Over time, the image of men has changed. This is due mostly to the relaxation of rigid stereotypical roles of the two genders. In different pieces of literature, however, men have been presented as the traditional dominate figure, the provider and rule maker or non-traditional figure that is almost useless and unimportant unless needed for sexual intercourse. This dramatic difference can either perpetuate the already existing stereotype or challenge it. Regardless of the differences, both seem to put men into a negative connotation.
She taught at universities both in Australia and the United States. Connell highly disagreed that the ideas about what established masculinity are ethically definite. In other words, masculinity is important to whom is referred to. For example, “if women are seen as weak, passive and emotional, then men are supposed to be strong, aggressive, and rational” (Seidman, 221). Additionally, masculinity is based on how people interact with each other in which correlates with their race, class, and sexuality. With this said, Connell said, “to recognize diversity in masculinity: relations of alliance, dominance and subordination… This is a gender politics within masculinity” (Seidman, 223). To point out Connell’s theorizing masculinity, she believes that diversity defines masculinity has its own relationships with authorities. In our text, Seidman gave a brief example of how the roles carry out to the social authority such as President, Senator, CEO, General, media executive, or surgeon. It is stated that while there are many senators, executives, or CEOs who are women, it is definite identify as masculinity because people think those high authorities is only for a male role. In our text, Connell has mentioned that “every society has a dominant or a “hegemonic” type of masculinity” (223). This means that she believes men has the power or control type of their masculinity in the
Kimmel, Michael S. "Masculinity as Homophobia: Fear, Shame, and Silence in the Construction of Gender Identity." Theorizing Masculinities. Ed. Harry Brod, and Michael Kaufman. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 1994. 119-42. SAGE knowledge. Web. Research on Men and Masculinities Series. 5 May 2014.
Whatever we see in movies, television, video games, or any other source of entertainment, there will always be a male figure who symbolizes masculinity to the fullest extent. All that masculinity represents empowerment is what seems to appeal to men nowadays. In Michael Kimmel’s Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men, the novel presents the irresistible desires that men seek in order to receive the approval of other men. An approval where men gain access to the concept of Guyland, where young men become masculine in order to fit in socially and to feel empowered. However, achieving absolute masculinity leans toward the use of violence that is presented in the media, presenting a message where violence is used for the purpose of getting what one desires.
Mosse, L George. The Image of Man: The Creation of Modern Masculinity. New York: Macmillan publishers, 1996.
Masculinity is a subject that has been debated in our society for quite some time. Many wonder what it means to be masculine, as it is difficult to define this one –sided term. Pairing this already controversial term with “feminist studies” can bring about some thought - provoking conversation. Feminist studies of men have been around for many years with regards to the feminist movement. It seeks to create gradual improvements to society through its main principle of modifying the ways in which everyone views what it means to be a man. Feminist studies of men bring forth the discussion of hegemonic masculinity; how this contributes to the gender hierarchy, the radicalized glass escalator and ultimately the faults of this theory.
Stets, Jan E., and Peter J. Burke. "Femininity/Masculinity." Encyclopedia of Sociology. New York: Macmillan, n.d. 1-21. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
Love, passion, lust, jealousy, and infidelity—these words ring as sources of many thematic works that have spanned across the ages. The intriguing aspects of passion and the personal connections between people have always endeared many viewers and readers to a story. This is why soap operas, passionate crime series, and romantic stories are created, to allow respective audiences into a tumultuous world of crimes of passion and smoldering embraces. William Shakespeare’s Othello delves into the type of drama that is still read today, even if the play itself goes back to hundreds of years ago. Othello is jealousy and passion incarnate; Desdemona is the frantic damsel whose innocent love is shattered; Roderigo is the lusty fool in a lover’s triangle; Cassio is the unsuspecting victim to a more sinister plot; and Iago is the catalyst of all these sparked emotions. When melded together, the characters’ interactions create such a story that would entertain the past and modern audiences.
These marriages in this play lack all senses of finding love, Lurencio is simply infatuated with Bianca and even makes a bet on her to see who can have her, he also seems to be more interested because of her dowry. Since women had to be tamed and paid for, this reveals that women were like objects to these men, that are bought and not
Furthermore, expectations of femininity were influenced by the treatment of victims and perpetrators through “labelling”: men who stole cars did so as an act of “virility” and women, “freedom” (Ferrall, Bard R. 2002, p201). Hence, radical feminism has brought into light the unjust reactions and actions of men, hence its masculinity, which is further reiterated in liberal feminist
To most, the concept of hegemonic masculinity seems vague, but yet it still penetrates the lives of every individual in Western society. And while not everyone is aware of the term “hegemonic masculinity”, if you ask any child, youth, or adult what “being a man” is, they would likely give similar stereo-typical descriptions of hegemonic masculinity. Hegemonic masculinity is defined as ‘the configuration of gender practice which [allows] the dominant position of men and the subordination of women’ (Connell, 2005, p. 77). Thus, in our Western world, there already exists a defined way we see masculinity, through the concept of hegemonic masculinity.
In the concluding paragraph of “Is Male Gender Identity the Cause of Male Domination?”1, Iris Marion Young remarks, “…gender theory can be an enormous aid in consciousness raising about contemporary masculine ideologies, by showing some of the sources of their misogyny.” (Young, 34) Thus, to trace the cause of male domination and raise consciousness one must also look at the flip side of the coin, vis-à-vis what the masculinity studies have to say about the causes of male domination. The ground work on masculinist studies began in the 1990s and it is still an inchoate academic discipline.